How many slices for that pizza?

A couple of nights ago we (Jane and I) had the funniest conversation, and despite her protests I think it needs to be recorded for posterity. She and Clare are in training for the 14km City-to-Surf fun(?) run and wanted to try the distance last weekend (for the record, they did brilliantly well). She suggested that I load Hugo into the bike trailer and that MacK and I cycle around the local lake to meet them if it wasn’t too cold.

I asked her what direction they would be travelling in (anti-clockwise/clockwise) so we could plan our travel route. Jane’s response was that it would depend where she started from. Granted, she was tired after a particularly grueling day of study, but she momentarily lost sight of the reality that the clockwise direction is an overlay, and doesn’t matter where you start from.

Reading the above, it doesn’t seem anywhere near as funny as it was in the kitchen when we were both tired but how we laughed! If laughter is truly a medicine, then we don’t need to take a flu shot this year or next!

Food, glorious food

We have been lucky enough to share great food with friends and family over the last few months. For those who might follow us on Facebook also you might have seen some of the fun stuff we have been doing. These have included experimenting with a ‘Violini de Cerva’ – a venison air dried prosciutto styled charcuterie, a 13 course dinner for Leigh’s birthday and Jane’s high tea – which has now morphed into more of a Te’apas type of thing.

I lost my phone to internal gremlins without transferring photos off it (idiot) so have lost many of the memories. Please see below a collection of some of the pictures we have been able to capture celebrating our food journey over the past few months.

Clockwise from top left: Toffeed stout ice cream dipped in chocolate with hazelnut praline and freeze dried strawberries; A late night study break cheese plate for Jane and me; Chocolate dipped honeycomb; Continental breakfast done right!; Vietnamese caramelised pork with pickled vegetables, hash brown with sauerkraut, chorizo and dijon mustard; spit roasted pork leg with an 8-day kim chi on baguette.

Jane's 2018 High Tea tribe. The girls had a great time, managing to nibble their way through 19 courses or so!

Is it July already??

For those of you who may have wondered if we had fallen off the face of the earth, rest assured we are still here. Since I last wrote (March!!!) my broken finger has healed enough for me to be able to whack it with out it hurting too much, and our lives have been consumed by work, study and the build. I don’t think I was aware just what the academic commitment of a Masters program would entail, but it is huge! I am enjoying it, and getting good results though.

As a gross catch up:

• Jane is still studying, and getting good results. She is absolutely looking forward to April when she gets to rest her brain.
• I have just commenced Semester 2. I have now completed five subjects, and aim to graduate in December. True to form it looks as though I will spoil Jane’s birthday again – this time by having a graduation parade on that day!
• Jane has picked up a couple of days work each week, and is working close to the team she hopes to join when she completes her studies.
• Hugo is in daycare for those days and loving it. He is everybody’s favourite with that super cheeky grin he has.
• MacK is growing up far too fast. Despite his unwillingness to practice he is playing some lovely music on his ukulele, and we trust the desire to get better will just kick off in him at some point.
• MacK must have inherited a running gene from anyone other than me, as he came second in the school cross country.
• The build is progressing well. A fair portion of that stack of Gyprock has made its way onto walls, and we are about to connect the house to the grid. Having electricity in every room will be a blessing and we look forward to rolling away the electric cables.
• We have bought the kitchen for the granny flat (currently in flat packs) and will install that when the rest of the room is complete as a priority. Cooking over a BBQ and in a slow cooker is fine – but I look forward to running water in a sink, and generally just being more comfortable.
• Jane’s next priority is in the bathrooms. She wants running water. Can’t say I blame her, and I am definitely looking forward to trying out the amazing bath we bought!
• Winter is cold – who would have thought! After a couple of years in the tropics I am surprised at how well we are coping with temperatures as low as -6 degrees Celsius overnight. The Canberra days are lovely though and more than make up for a little chill.

L-R - Slicing the 'violini de cerva' - venison prosciutto; Hugo enjoying the clothes of Winter; and Jane and Clare - Clare with proper shoes on at the High Tea

Clockwise from top left: The Hebel walls go up internally, and the stacks of Gyprock go down; Fire is just the thing when the morning starts off at minus six degrees; Where once was eleven pallets there are only now three; The sunsets are as beautiful as ever; I have now framed out the slaughter room on the Eastern side of the kitchen.

 While I would like to be a little more regular with our posts over the next three months, I fear that study will again take over. We will post where we can – and next year I promise we will have much more time on our hands!

A weekend of steel and Hebel

Up until now we have bought a couple of sheets of gyprock at a time, and have paid a premium price for the privilege. We decided to bite the bullet and order pretty much the house lot of plaster, Hebel blocks and make a start on the steel balustrades.

This last weekend was the Canberra Day long weekend so we thought we would make the most of it. I came up to the farm early to clean up the house and take delivery of a bunch of building materials, while Jane, the boys and Peter and Phyl came up after MacK finished school on Friday afternoon.

The receipt of goods went relatively smoothly, except for Rocket getting off his run, and into the neighbour’s ducks. The resulting consequences were that I broke a finger in my hand trying (in vain) to rescue the duck, we have a duck in the freezer, and Rocket probably thinks he had a grand old time. Thursday was the insulation for the house, and Friday was the day for Hebel and plasterboard.

At least I know what I can do on spare weekends now...

The weekend itself was dedicated to Jane, and getting the balustrades completed on the internal courtyard. It now means that we have a safe space for Hugo to play when we are working/welding in other parts of the house. Our decision to (eventually) move out here was rewarded on Sunday, with MacK disappearing at about 0830 with Floyd from next door, and then only resurfacing once before about 1830 – and that was at lunch time for a snack. It is lovely for him to have friends on the property, and to be able to let them go for hours at a time without worrying that they might be out on busy streets.

Jane hard at work in the hot sun (about 33 degrees Celsius), and the finished product on the deck. We don't yet have stairs, but they will come.

Jane and the rest went back home on Monday afternoon to get MacK ready for school on Tuesday. I had to stay as we need the trailer in Canberra, but it is full of rubbish and the local tip is closed on a Monday. We have scored another load of pavers, on the proviso that we move them tomorrow. I think Jane is now happy that we have our full complement of pavers for the proposed outdoor kitchen/entertaining area. Lucky the finger I broke doesn’t impact too severely on my ability to lift!

Hugo had a grand time, and ended up bathing in the sink twice a day - it became a bit of a running battle to keep ahead of the dirt! Just like it should be.

The "Tin Palace"

Now that we are back in Canberra, we will endeavour to get a majority of the build complete this year. To that end, we are about to order a couple of truckloads of steel, Hebel blocks, insulation and plasterboard. Should make for an interesting year, and friends and family should expect plenty of invitations for work parties!

We have had a couple of wins so far this year on Gumtree (with the result that we are both now banned!), and have bought a 90 cm oven and range for the flat, the pavers we need for the future el fresco area and a walk in cold room. All at a fraction of the price of new, but the garage now looks like a second hand shop.

We look forward to keeping you all well updated with progress through the year.

The Land of the Long White Cloud (Part 3)

Our plan in the Manawatu was to stay with Margie and Rusty in Feilding. I had been promising for a long time to bring the family over, and it was nice to finally get there. On our way in I took the family to Highden. It was a place with so many memories for me, and I was a little nervous as we drove in. Whilst I am incredibly glad to have gone I don’t know that I will ever go back again. There is something missing, and the building is showing signs of serious decay. The gardens are being recovered, having been let go for several years but are not in good shape. Many of the roses in the formal gardens are just dying, and Wayne (the gardener now there) thinks that the soil has soured.

 Clockwise from top left: The view from the roof of the house, looking down over the rose gardens; The wreck of a Honda Civic - It was Tyson's. He bought it as a paddock basher when he was ten. When he was done with it, Dad buried it. Obviously not deep enough; the rose gardens. Once upon a time there was a thick cover over the gazebo...; A wood fired bath in the middle of the lawn (installed since our tenure!); The view down into the paddock, where we put in a dam to help with drainage. The honey house is gone, and this area will soon be home to a community of tiny houses; Whilst the chapel is now not recognisable as such, at least the dedication stones remain.
  

From left: The pole house originally built for Tyson. He wrote on the front door "No Grils Allowed"; MacK ringing the Highden bell, with Linda looking down; The view down to the grotto. Mary remains as ever, but the gardens and trees are not well. That avenue of cherries should be a mass of green. 

I left the place felling quite sad. When we left (13 September 2000), the property was vibrant and lived in. Up until that point, the house had rocked for a decade with the most brilliant parties. Now – there are cracks in the walls, and a great chunk of the plaster ceiling in the main kitchen has collapsed. I could write a lot more, but will let photographs tell the story for me. My last thought – I would not be surprised to hear that the house has been demolished in a decade or so.

 

Clockwise from top left: The house from the front lawn; Spiral hedges destined to be removed due to the weed matting; View of the house from the grotto - Linda, Jane and Hugo in shot; The front of the house; Some of the (now very) mature trees - some of which we planted; The pond and water feature I designed and built (many) years ago is still there!

Some of those who came to Highden while we were there might remember this piece. It is one of a couple that have remained from our time in the home.

After probably close to thirty years, I reconnected with a cousin and her family – thanks for hosting us Bex and Hugh. We also spent a morning with Margie travelling out through all of the country where she and Dad grew up, and saw the pub where Mum and Dad first met (Kimbolton).

Clockwise from top left: In the main foyer of Highden; Me with Wayne and Linda at the front door; Jane and the boys with Margi and Rusty; Hugo enjoying the run around the lawns at Highden.

We drove to Wellington on another very wet day (fortunately nowhere is very far in New Zealand), and I visited Br. Marty in the home he is in. Whilst the Parkinson’s has robed some of his physical capacity, he is still very sharp, and recognised me when I walked into the Dining Room. His first words to me were “I know you. You have a sister called Tiffinee”. Quite extraordinary, given we wouldn’t have seen him for close to 25 years.

We spent the evening with another couple of long term friends (with whom I have had no real contact since moving to Australia), and again it was really nice to re establish that connection. I look forward to returning the favour and hosting all of these friends and family when they travel to Australia in years to come.

The Land of the Long White Cloud (Part 2)

When we first threw out our plans to visit NZ, Pat and Shirley got in contact to say they would be away, but that we could have their house as a base in Rotorua. It was a fantastic offer, and we had a great time in that lovely old, stinky city. Jane and MacK say they never quite got used to the smell of the sulphur during our stay, but I found it oddly comforting (Jane would just mutter ‘weirdo’).

When we arrived, it was to find a lovely cheese plate in the fridge, and Christmas bags for the boys. I can’t stress enough how relaxing it was to have a home to base ourselves at for a couple of days. Being able to do washing, or for the boys to just be able to relax was brilliant.

On our first day in Rotorua, we headed off to the East Coast – to Ohope Beach, where Pat and Shirley, Rhonda, Briar, Robbie and Brent were staying. It was a beach I had stayed at as a kid, and it is a lovely, safe beach. On our drive over, Jane would look at road signs and some she would try to pronounce, whilst with others she would just give up! We had a really nice lunch with the cousins and made it home to a wet Rotorua just in time to pick up some really good Kiwi fish and chips!

 Pat and Shirley in Ohope. We can't thank them (and the kids) enough for their hospitality.

 We spent a couple of hours at the 3D art Gallery - great fun.

We had promised MacK that we would do the Luge on Mt Ngongotaha, so took the break in the weather to head up the gondolas to have a little luging fun. It was great fun, and again reminded me of experiences of my youth (which I like to think I still have some of). We did see an absolutely ridiculous mountain bike track as we travelled up the hill. I think the term “steel balls” would be used to refer to anyone mad enough to ride those tracks and jumps!

Clockwise from top left: The Redwoods tree walk; Jane and MacK on their first run down the scenic track; Liz, Alistair and MacK on a massive old Redwood; The beautiful forest walk; NZ bush is moist and earthy, not dry and dusty; Jane and the boys at "Whaka", waiting for corn cooked in the boiling ponds.

In the afternoon we had a very relaxing walk through the Redwoods forest. Patrick and Kelly (with family) joined us, and the boys had a lovely play. The forest is now a reserve, having originally been planted as a research facility (to see what might grow in NZ). The serenity is lovely – noise just seems to be absorbed within the density of the trees.

Day three was mostly a rest day to give the boys a chance to rejuvenate, although we did catch up with Isy Kennedy and Phil Carson for lunch and a drink respectively. Whilst we didn’t do too much, it was a good way to spend a rainy day. Up until this part of the trip, Jane was gobsmacked by how steep the countryside is. I think I had forgotten too, having become much more used to the rolling undulations of rural Australia. From here, the country lived up to its name, hiding the view behind a mass of cloud.

Day four was great – we went to the thermal village of Whakarewarewa for the cultural tour. This is a very authentic experience, with people still living in the village. Some of the memorable experiences were MacK learning his new favourite Maori word – Korotiotio (it means “grumpy old man”), and the explanation of the Anglican/Catholic divide in the village (a chief drew a line through the village, with those living on the high side being Catholic, and on the low side being designated Anglican. Quite sensible if you ask me!). The cultural show was excellent, and a bit of an eye opener for MacK!

 Michael - our guide, who was born in the village. The cultural performance was a highlight

Imagery of the village

We drove out of town for the afternoon, headed for the Waikite thermal pools – again a memory from my youth. MacK and Hugo were both asleep when we arrived, so we sat in the car until they woke. The pools are naturally heated by a spring that runs at about 99 degrees Celsius, and are incredibly rejuvenating.

Well rested, our next destination was Taradale in the Hawkes Bay, staying with Paul and Kirstin. On the way I wanted to show Jane and the boys the farm where I grew up (Atawhai). We called in and I was reminded of why you should never go back. The gardens have been reclaimed by weeds, and the rock BBQ area that my granddad built no longer exists. Where you could once stand on the front lawn and look down to the woolshed through manicured trees, the view is now obscured by scraggly, unkempt trees. The rose gardens are gone, and the Macrocarpas lining the drive way should have been milled and replaced many years ago. I felt a little deflated as we left…

We stopped in Taupo for lunch – again another town that doesn’t appear to have changed in 20 years or so – before heading to the Hawkes Bay. Highlights of our time with Paul and Kirstin were the trip to the Havelock Markets (Brilliant), visits to the Church Road and Mission Estate wineries and the introduction to fine Gin (I am now building a collection).

During our visit to the Mission Estate, I was able to identify a couple of the Marist brothers who I knew from our Highden days, so had a lovely trip down memory lane. I had told a story the night before of one of those brothers – Br. Marty, who used to run tours of the Mission winery. Apparently he used to use his stick as a prop, making out he needed it to move. When the tours were over, he would hang up the stick in preparation for the next tour. The Cellar Door Manager came out and I mentioned Br. Marty’s stick – he had given it to the Mission not long before and she was able to show us. That was a great afternoon!

 

          Br. Marty's stick - quite extraordinary                          Br. Joachim - 1955, before his permanent move to

                                                                                                                         Highden. A true gentleman.

We also had a lunch with old friends from the Atawhai days – the Coxes. We had a lovely afternoon, hosted by Deborah and Steve. Mack was incredibly lucky on this trip – almost everywhere we went there was somebody at or about his age he could play with.

 

Clockwise from top left: Lunch with the Coxes - thanks Deb and Steve for hosting; With the Thompson clan. We would have included Paul, but he flew out at a ridiculous hour!; MacK and Campbell were 'cleaning out the drain', as only small boys can; Victoria and Alexandra struggled with babysitting duties; and we had a lovely day out at the Mission and Church Road wineries with Paul and Kirstin

On our drive out of the Hawkes Bay, we caught up with another old school friend we hadn’t seen since our wedding (Hamish and Abby) on our way to the Manawatu (more to follow). Again, it was really good to be remaking those connections after so many years.

More of those feral boys.

The Land of the Long White Cloud (Part 1)

Jane had taken advantage of some very reasonable airfares during the year, and booked a fourteen day trip to New Zealand. Our plan was to fly into Auckland, and out of Wellington. We were fortunate to be able to spend time with a lot of family and friends down the length of the country, with our basic itinerary as follows:

28 Dec – Fly Sydney to Auckland. Arrive PM

29 Dec – Whangaparoa

30 Dec – Raglan

31 Dec – (NYE) Cambridge, then Rotorua

01 – 04 Jan – Rotorua

05 – 07 Jan – Hawkes Bay

08 – 09 Jan – Feilding

10 Jan – Wellington

11 Jan – Fly Wellington to Sydney

We arrived to a very different climate than Australia, and saw a quintessential Kiwi summer outfit at the airport – Jandals, boardshorts and a puffer jacket! Our motel was simple but comfortable, and I could well understand why the pool wasn’t unlocked, even in the height of Summer.

Our plan was to head to Whangaparoa to stay with Ryan and Sarah (Tickelpenny) for the night, and for the boys to meet their youngest cousin. They were going to be out, so I contacted an old friend from Palmerston North days (last century!) on the off chance he might be up for a visit. He was, and we spent a very enjoyable couple of hours with Pat and Vanessa. On our way we stopped at a bakery for breakfast, but the EFTPOS machine wouldn’t accept our travel card (apparently they have different fee structures for different card types), and we hadn’t at that stage drawn any cash out. I was going to head to an ATM to rectify the cash situation, when a young lad behind me insisted that as I was a tourist in his country he would pay for our pies. Very unexpected, and quite lovely.

We spent a most enjoyable evening with Ryan, Sarah and Ted, and I had a dubious trip down memory lane with a long neck of Lion Red. Wow. Did I ever like that stuff? It tastes kind of like beer, only not as good! On the other hand, Jane was introduced to Toffee Pops and kind of enjoyed them! As a thank you, I baked chocolate croissants the next morning. Such a good way to kick off our journey.

 Ted, MacK and Hugo

We travelled to Raglan, to stay with one of my oldest friends – Tonya. She has a fantastic house in what is a retro/hippy village with a surfing bent. MacK was introduced to his first black sand beach and spent longer in the surf than I thought he would have. Tonya introduced us to a game that MacK has become enamoured of – “Exploding Kittens”. Funny, ridiculous game where the rules don’t really matter. Perfect for Master six! The next morning I was up early and went down into the town to look for a bakery and coffee/chocolate. I found both, with a sourdough bakery just setting up a roadside stall as I got there.

Clockwise from top left: Our welcome at Auckland International Airport; Attempt at a whole family and Tonya selfie; Tonya, MacK and I; Us at the Bridal Veil Falls - this time the selfie worked!; Bush in New Zealand is very different to Australia; Standing at the Bridal Veil Falls Lookout - one of our last fine days.

I can’t remember the name of the Café I got coffee from but did have a funny experience. Hugo was having great fun leaping around the retro couches and at some point came back to me. A local bloke came in and sat on the couch, and I told Hugo he had lost his trampoline. This bloke (think your typical hulking biker looking dude, with a long beard and a plethora of tattoos) chimes in with a cheeky “Tough little buddy. You snooze, you lose!” The Barista asked him if he had full cream milk in his Latte, and this tough looking bloke’s (surprising) response was “No way Bro. I’m a vegan. Have you got Almond?” Just one of those experiences that are a little bit odd.

We went to Cambridge via Hamilton, where we visited both of the schools I attended there (Southwell and St Pauls Collegiate). That was a really nice trip down memory lane. I was surprised at how familiar the roads were – I hadn’t thought about or travelled on those roads in more than 17 years, but there were very few surprises. We spent several hours on NYE with Townsville friends (Kelly and Patrick) with highlights being the backyard fireworks and seeing MacK reconnect with Alistair after several years. Our final destination on NYE was Rotorua, where we stayed for a few days (see following post).

 

  This sign was on one of the Boarding Houses at St Pauls. If you can't read the translation, it is "It is through the older siblings that the younger one learns the right way to do things, and it is through the younger sibling that the older one learns to be tolerant".

Seeing the "Tickelpenny Auto Electrical" sign meant I knew we had reached our destination!

Farewell to the Top End

We moved out of Darwin on Saturday 16 December, and bid a sad farewell to some fantastic friends and family. Given we could no longer expect David, Jess and Chloe to our table on a regular basis, we compiled a collection of their favourite recipes and gave them a (broken) aioli jar, and a mandolin slicer.

For our other friends, who became our Darwin family we know that our goodbyes are not permanent, and that we will catch up regularly with them all. I will miss the dinners and events we shared – they were really good fun with wonderful people. Some of those friends also moved from Darwin, whether for work or service reasons, and we now have friends spread even more broadly across this wide brown land.

A snapshot of my work colleagues last year...

To Rob, Kim and the boys; Brad, Danni and the girls; Bec, Brendan and kids; Jen, Mark and the girls; Holly, Scott and the kids; Kiah and Chris and our Army colleagues – thank you for your friendship and support during our time in the Top End. Whilst nothing makes the climate easy, you guys certainly eased the burden!

We will go back, but not to live. We will visit regularly – particularly to spend time with David, Jess and Chloe. MacK and Hugo had a great relationship with Chloe and we want to make sure they have a chance to maintain that. We want to take Hugo to El Questro when he can appreciate it (I know it is in WA, but the jumping off point will be Darwin…), and there are a number of other natural wonders to keep returning to. We won’t miss the humidity, but there is a very attractive charm about the Northern way of life.

Clockwise from Top left: David and Jane at her significant birthday dinner in December...; MacK and Oli after their last Aussie Hoops training session; Proof that Jane can be girly from time to time!; MacK and a couple of his crazy beautiful mates from Darwin; Santa Crawf and Jess at the Livingston Volunteer Fire Brigade Christmas party; MacK with Mereme Hyde - his Yr 1 Darwin teacher; MacK with Katy Aspin - a brilliant educator and his teacher in Transition (2016).

Enjoying a slightly cooler and less humid Christmas...

Is it nearly March already?

I have just looked back and realised that our last post was 9 Nov 2017. I can’t believe how quickly time runs away if you aren’t keeping a close look! In our last post, Hugo was taking his first, rather tentative steps. Now he is running around the house and climbing onto the table (and sometimes nearly falling off).

To bring the diary back up to date, since that last post, we packed up the Darwin house (absolutely glorious fun in the back end of the build up!) which wasn’t quite as smooth as we might have liked. Our removalists were fantastic, but we had hoped to spend a couple of days preparing stuff for the packers. And by preparing stuff I really mean culling the unnecessary dross you tend to collect. And then work happened. After I had finished work for the year and handed my portfolio over to my replacement (but before he started in the position) the proverbial hit the fan.

Instead of a couple of light and easy days peppered with farewell lunches and good times, I was head down sorting out a bunch of urgent issues until the boss kicked me out. He then called Jane to thank her for her sacrifices of the previous couple of years. The role of Adjutant is busy, often thankless and draining. It was fantastic for Jane to have that call. Having said that, it didn’t do anything to alleviate the fatigue. I didn’t realise until after I had left just how tired I was. Jane of course was acutely aware…

We had earlier made the decision to fly to Canberra rather than drive. Now that was a decision that was a godsend. I reckon we might have made it to Humpty Do on Day one before having to stop for the night (that is about 50km from Darwin, making a long trip!).

We spent a good couple of days on the farm, showing the house a bit of love after nine or so months away, and had a good hit out at the electricity. We now have lights, power and fans in the shed, and external lights on the house. Progress knows no bounds…

Christmas was nice and relaxed, here in Canberra, and we all enjoyed the transition from the humid north to the dry Canberra summer. I was able to go foraging in the streets around Canberra and have now identified sugar plums, another plum of unknown variety, apricots and mulberries. We spent a couple of weeks in New Zealand – a trip to visit family and friends and to show Jane and the boys where I grew up. It was wonderful, but I will leave the details for following posts.

We finally got our new house in Canberra in mid January, and have almost unpacked all the boxes. Peter and Phyl have taken advantage of our proximity to offload some of what we have had stored at there place for a while… And I have been enjoying baking bread with Harriet (sourdough starter) and the quality of the fresh produce here.

Jane (for all her concerns) aced the exam to confirm her last years’ worth of study, and is about to kick off again. My year of study (being lucky enough to be doing my Masters in Human Resources for Army) is about to kick off also. We will be a family of academics for the year, but will still be up for spit roasts and beers!

El Questro and Lake Argyle - the pictures!

We promised pictures, and have finally downloaded some from our cameras. They just don’t do our trip to the Kimberleys any sort of justice, but we hope you will gain a sense of just how special it is out there.

Jane and I at the entrance to El Questro. Before the 16kms of river crossings and corrugations... The landscape is incredible. Here we are about to trek up into Emma Gorge.

Just more of that magnificent view. Each gorge had a very unique eco system and climate. 

Our walk into El Questro Gorge was where we first encountered our intrepid guide, Captain Jarrabonga! He obviously wasn't impressed by our tardiness.

Water everywhere - and our home away from home. Rather luxurious!

 

While Lake Argyle is not as beautiful as El Questro, it is still stunning in its own right. Here are views from the resort (read campground) and the infinity pool.

Hugo found the best place to sit! MacK obviously got over his concerns about the freshwater crocs in the lake!